Growing Canna Lily Seeds

Last year my Canna Lily grew very big and I collected seeds. I guess the japanese beetles just weren't around that year. I grew two of the seeds out of curiosity to see what it was like. The little red one died during winter but the green one returned in spring. I put it in the ground to give it more space to grow. I'm hoping it'll bloom this year so that I can see if it takes the same color as the parent or not.

Then I found the plastic baggy full of Canna Lily seeds. I figured that because the canna lilies in the backyard are doing wonderful again this year, that maybe...  I decided at the spur of the moment that it'd be fun to try to grow all of the seeds!

May 27, 2014 - Used a toenail clipper to nick each seed

The first step is to nick each seed until you reveal a tiny bit of white. So I had to dig up a toenail clipper to work on each seed. It was a pain in the butt but I managed to get all of them.

Then, the interesting thing is, several people mentioned that they pour hot water on their canna lily seeds and they enjoy the 'popping, cracking' sounds the seeds make in the water. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to do that but they swore by it. I put all the seeds in a bowl, boiled some water, and when the bubbles stopped coming up, I poured that hot water over my seeds. I didn't hear any popping, cracking, etc.

May 27, 2014 - After an hour of soaking

May 28, 2014 - A day later

May 29, 2014 - Planted the seeds

50 seeds were then planted in a greenhouse kit. The remaining seeds were put in an old seed kit. So then the waiting game (I was wondering if I might have boiled my seeds to death.).

June 5, 2014 - Canna Lily seedlings popping up

A lot of seeds starting germinating. Pretty excited about that.

June 6, 2014 - Canna Lily seedlings

June 7, 2014 - Canna Lily seedlings

I was surprised at how fast they were coming up and out. I'll admit I didn't look this far ahead into my plans so I didn't really have anything to put them in. I was also worried their roots would start growing into each other. They got a tad bigger so I got some big pots and lots of dirt....

June 12, 2014 - Canna Lily seedlings

I moved over 30 seedlings, 5 for each pot. They'll probably just grow in there for a bit until I figure out where to plant them.

The funny thing is that as soon as I started growing the seeds, the japanese beetles have shown up in great numbers. I got one of those traps out there that's supposed to lure them over and it seems to be working so far. So we'll see if the canna lilies can survive this or if they'll go back to being chewed down before they have a chance to bloom again.